The Tijuana River Valley may get relief from pollution, through a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency grant for cleanup upstream.

Last week the EPA announced $461,368 in grants to fund seven environmental projects along the California and Arizona U.S-Mexico border. They include restoration of the Tijuana River estuary, expansion of a municipal oil recycling program and programs to track air pollution in the region.

Of that, $98,500 will go to Pronatura-Noroeste A.C., a non-profit conservation group, to restore the upper portion of the Tijuana River. The organization will use the funds to restore the flood plain in the upper river, reducing sources of trash and sediment to the Tijuana River Estuary in San Diego.

The organization will remove trash and sediment, re-vegetate the estuary with native plants and install a new wastewater reuse system to irrigate vegetation.

The Tijuana River Valley is a diverse ecosystem that hosts some 400 bird species, including endangered and threatened species such as the California least tern, light-footed clapper rail, least Bell’s vireo, western snowy plover and California gnatcatcher.

Its various habitats include dunes, salt marshes, mud flats, coastal sage and vernal pools, which attract more common species of shorebirds, gulls, and migratory visitors.

The estuary, however, has also been the site of large sewage spills in recent years, including two spills of 2 million gallons each in April, 2012. It faces a persistent problem of sediment buildup that blocks flow of the lagoon.

The EPA grant aims to reduce pollution to the estuary. The funds were granted with the Border Environment Cooperation Commission, under the bi-national U.S.-Mexico Environmental Program: Border 2020. The organizations receiving funding will match it with an additional $354,746.

Other grants will fund air emissions monitoring in the border cities of Calexico, Calif. and Nogales, Sonora, help reduce e-waste in border cities, and control water pollution from metal plating operations, and improve motor oil collection in Nogales, Sonora.